and her mother; and Ricky and his par- ents. There was also word that Ricky had taken up with a new girlfriend and had fathered another child. Winegarden avoided some potential complications by having Veronica per- suade Sandy and Tammy to sign peti- tions supporting her as Kaylàs sole rep- resentative, on the promise of a future trust fund for their children. He did not, however, secure any such waiver from Ricky Rolland. The day after Kaylàs death, Ricky got in touch with a South- field, Michigan, attorney named Geof- frey Fieger, best known for his represen- tation of Jack (Dr. Death) Kevorkian, and as the failed 1998 Democratic can- didate for governor. But Fieger is also a fierce plaintiff's attorney; with a record of winning huge awards in wrongful-death lawsuits. The week Kayla died, Fieger appeared with Ricky and announced that he had been engaged by Ricky to seek co-personal-representative status in the matter of Kaylàs estate, and that he would launch an investigation into the circumstances of her death. Fieger said that a lawsuit against the gunmaker was one possible outcome. He emphasized, however, that his case was not about money: "I'm going to investigate because I'm interested in social justice, in exam- ining the cause of this-not just to sue someone." Fieger briefly allowed re- porters access to his client, which was a bit awkward, because questions about Ricky's criminal record, spousal abuse, and absence from Kaylàs life kept com- ing up. "I haven't been the best father," Ricky confessed. He has not been grant- ing interviews since. Fieger said he found it "shocking" that Winegarden had rushed to court when "Kayla hasn't even been buried." But the odds were always in Veronicàs favor-a fact Fieger effectively acknowl- edged in mid-April, when he settled the dispute with Winegarden. Veronica would be Kaylàs personal representative, and Fieger would be part of Winegar- den's team for any lawsuit. Kayla had been buried, and the com- munity had mourned. "Now it's money time," Beecher's state representative, Vera B. Rison, said. Within a couple of weeks of Kaylàs death, more than a dozen lawyers were involved in the case, but the most unex- pected development came from Dedric Owens. He had retained a lawyer, Terry Bankert, who began negotiating with publishing and public-relations firms about a book or movie deal for his client. Word got out, and there was a pre- dictable reaction, but Bankert defended his action, saying that although his jailed client grieved for Kayla, his story was the only resource he had-he had to trunk about protecting the interests of his own children. "We didn't invite the international media here," he said in March. "There's a tidal wave coming, and we either learn to swim or we drown." There were no takers for the Dedric Owens story: CONDOLENCE5 "' X Then the news of the shooting in V V Flint reached the White House, the Administration urgently undertook to find Kaylàs mother, eventually enlist- ing the Department of Justice in the effort. That morning, the President tele- phoned the superintendent of Beecher's schools, Ira Rutherford. Clinton in- quired about Kaylàs family, and about whether they might want to receive a call from him. The President demon- strated "a tremendous amount of empa- thy," Rutherford later said, but people around Veronica felt that she was too distraught just then to accept his call. Later that day; the White House tele- phoned the Hurley hospital and asked that the President be patched through to the McQyeens. Instead, he was con- nected to Mike's father, who'd been so upset by events that he had suffered a minor stroke and had to be admitted to the hospital. The Administration then got in touch with the United States At- torney in Detroit, Saul Green, who got word to the Genesee County prosecutor, Arthur Busch, that the President wanted to find the McQyeens. On Thursday, two days after the shooting, Busch hap- pened to run into Veronica, her mother, and Winegarden outside the Flint court- house, and he passed on the message. Veronica had just made her estate filing at probate court. Winegarden was happy to hear that the President wanted to talk to his client, but there were other pros- pects emerging, and nothing was imme- diately settled. The machinery of the White House was no match for the television-network chat shows. By Thursday, NBC's "To- day" show was deep in discussion with Winegarden about an exclusive appear- ance by Veronica. Katie Couric, the show's co-host, called Winegarden per- sonally, and he was impressed. In the discussions with NBC, an idea emerged that struck Winegarden as being even better than a condolence call from the President-an actual visit to the White House. Couric was going to be in Wash- ington, and someone at NBC News told the White House that Veronica was coming to town for "Today," and said that perhaps she should stop by for a visit with the President. The White House extended an invi- tation to Veronica and Mike, and Wine- garden accepted for them. Six days after Kayla was shot, Veronica stepped onto an airplane, for the first time in her life, and flew to Washington to meet the President and to talk on national televi- sion about her daughter's death. As it happened, guns were on the agenda in Washington. The shooting at Columbine High School, in Colo- rado, the previous spring had presented a political opportunity that gun-control ad- vocates seized, pressing new gun legisla- tion. The House and Senate juvenile- justice bills both broadly contained most of the remedies President Clinton had publicly asked for, such as mandating child-safety locks, banning high-capacity ammo clips, and prohibiting juvenile possession of assault weapons. The two measures varied in one key respect: the Senate bill called for a three-day waiting period for a background check before a gun purchase could be completed; the House bill provided for a twenty-four- hour waiting period. Both the Republi- cans and the White House, for their own reasons, refused to budge on the issue, and the bill remained in conference. Two days after Kaylàs shooting, Pres- ident Clinton appeared on "Today" to discuss guns. A child-trigger-Iock law, he told Couric, would guarantee that "at least those guns would not be used by six- year-olds to kill other six-year-olds."This legislation, he said, was bottled up on Capitol Hill because of the "stranglehold that the N .R.A. has had on this Con- gress." Couric asked the President when the White House intended to schedule a gun summit with congressional leaders; the President said he hoped the summit THE NEW YOR.KER., JULY 3, 2000 49